1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a voice over internet protocol (VIP) gateway system and, in particular, to a method for processing an outgoing internet phone call by using an internet telephony module card (ITM card) of a VIP gateway.
2. Related Art
In general, an ITM card of a VIP gateway has an access code of three digits. The ITM card access code is a code required for transferring an outgoing call to a specific ITM card of a VIP gateway of the other party.
In such a VIP gateway system, the ITM card has a database table storing only an IP address matched with an access code of the ITM card of the other party. Therefore, a user who desires to make an internet phone call is required to have prior knowledge of all of the access codes of the ITM card, the extension access codes and the office-line access codes of the other parties. Moreover, the user needs to input all of those numbers by using the dial buttons of a phone. This is a significant disadvantage and inconvenience to the users of such a VIP gateway system.
The following patents generally relate to telephone communication over the internet or switched equipment, but are burdened by the disadvantages of the prior art set forth herein: U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,390 to Volftsun, entitled PROTOCOL CONVERSION USING CHANNEL ASSOCIATED SIGNALING, issued on 21 Nov. 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,962 to Rossmann, entitled PREDICTIVE DATA ENTRY METHOD FOR A KEYBOARD, issued on Nov. 21, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,667 to Doshi, entitled NETWORK-BASED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INITIATING AND COMPLETING A TELEPHONE CALL VIA THE INTERNET, issued on Nov. 7, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,804 to Gilbert, entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COMPLETING A VOICE CONNECTION BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND VOICE TERMINALS IN A SWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK, issued on Aug. 1, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,078,582 to Curry, entitled INTERNET LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE SERVICE, issued on Jun. 20, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,078,579 to Weingarten, entitled TELEPHONE SYSTEMS FOR COMMUNICATION OVER COMPUTER NETWORKS, issued on Jun. 20, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,075,783 to Voit, entitled INTERNET PHONE TO PSTN CELLULAR/PCS SYSTEM, issued on Jun. 13, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,227 to Farris, entitled PRESELECTION OF SERVICE PROVIDER AND FUNCTIONALITY, issued on Mar. 14, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,087 to Mirashrafi, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ESTABLISHING A VOICE CALL TO A PSTN EXTENSION FOR A NETWORKED CLIENT COMPUTER, issued on Feb. 15, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,021,126 to White, entitled TELECOMMUNICATION NUMBER PORTABILITY, issued on Feb. 1, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,343 to Hogan, entitled CALL-PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD, issued on Jan. 18, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,394 to Andruska et al., entitled COMMON TREATMENT OF CALLS FROM SUBSCRIBERS SERVED BY DIFFERENT TYPES OF TELECOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT, issued on Sep. 21, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,478 to Vaudreuil, entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EXTENDED ADDRESSING PLANS, issued on Aug. 17, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,485 to Rossmann, entitled PREDICTIVE DATA ENTRY METHOD FOR A KEYPAD, issued on Jun. 15, 1999, U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,146 to Morrisey, entitled AUTOMATIC ACCESS TO COMMUNICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS, issued on Jun. 4, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,185 to Burke, entitled SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING CALLING PARTY INFORMATION FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES, issued on Jul. 26, 1994, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,402 to De Graauw, entitled MEANS FOR IDENTIFYING SUBSCRIBER LINES, issued on Jun. 26, 1979.